When my feet stopped, I was drenched in sweat. To steady my raging pulse, I took a deep breath and checked our location. Although this place was beneath the stars, it was impossible to reach from the roads of the Squalor. The little square cordoned off by shacks contained precious little apart from an industrial-grade portable toilet, a monstrosity shared among the surrounding households. In short, we were in a central yard, and all around us were walls. In my blind rush, I had led both me and Sophie into another trap.

Behind me, my ward collapsed onto her knees. Breath ragged, she looked up to me in shock. It seemed like the shut-in girl was in terrible shape. Forcing the sprint on her made me feel a bit guilty, but it had to be done, and it was successful too. Like last time, I had left Lester and his men in the dust.

Next step: Find out where we are and make it back to the cab.

On reflex, I checked my phone. The phone always had the answer. This time however, even the all-knowing master proved helpless. None of the so-called buildings of the squalor were registered with the city. Even if they were, the entire makeup of the Squalor could change from one day to another as buildings were repositioned and borders between gang lands were redrawn. Rather than the streets and shacks around us, all the phone showed me was the pristine park the Squalor had swallowed.

At least I could see our rough location. We had been forced a good ways into the square. All the dots around us, represented the various registered citizens, so we were still close to civilization. The knowledge didn't do me any good though. No one who spent the night in this place would consider themselves citizens. Getting out with the map wouldn't work, even though the edge of the park was so close it hurt.

“Hey, do you have any idea which way we came from?” I asked with a look at my ward. Sophie was smart. Surely she could find an answer. However, the girl was more than just out of breath. Her eyes wavered as she stared at me. Unblinking, my ward scooched back to create distance.

“How did you do that?” she asked in a tense voice.

“Do what?” I asked back in confusion.

“The punch. The speed. The... the everything.”

She looked to our entryway. As I followed her glance, I understood why my ward was this unhinged.

Behind us, an old metal door had burst from its hinges and lay on the ground. Only a jagged hole was left in the wall, like a gaping wound. Through the opening, I could spot several people anxious to find the source of the destruction. As soon as they saw me, they scattered as if chased by a monster. The monster was me.

“What... how did I...” Confusion overwhelmed my mind. I just ran, unaware of anything. There was no way I could have burst through that door. Not even someone as strong as Lester could.

When I had come here, I had thrown my shoulder against the closed door, against the obstacle. To me the door had seemed flimsy, but clearly it wasn't. That much was evident by the reactions around me, as well as by the shiny metal hinges, as they hung from the door bent and burst.

Lost for words, I looked over to Sophie for help. Maybe she would have the answers I lacked. We stared at each other for a few seconds, both unsure of my true nature. We might have remained there, locked in a mutual check, if someone hadn't thrown us a life line to drag us out of our pit of uncertainty.

“I told you to heed the eye of the beasts, child. You have brought great misfortune upon this place.”

We were still alone in the backyard, but the flat voice had broadcast its cryptic message from above! Startled, I looked up. On one of the low roofs, I found the one reason I had avoided the Squalor all these months: The crazy old guru and his piercing eyes. And now those very same eyes stared me down again. Only focused on me, he spouted his mad ramblings.

“I told you to hide your gift when out in the open. To never use it without training. Do you understand the weight of your actions, child? Do you wish to steal our last hope? The last hope of Astralis?”

The old man's voice was flat and cold, like a bad actor reading from a script. Still, with fierce words he accused me of crimes I didn't understand. I had no time for any of this. Granted a few moments to regain composure, I could focus on the essentials. At the moment, we needed a way out of the Squalor. So despite my better judgment, I turned to the only help I could find.

“Excuse me, sir. You are an inhabitant of the Squalor, aren't you? In that case, could you be so kind as to point us towards the exit? I'm afraid we're a bit lost at the moment.”

I tried to be as careful and polite as possible. I wouldn't want to trigger the old man and cause some sort of outburst. Of course, the crazy old guru would have none of it.

“The exit? It is far too late for departure. You do not know at all what you have done, child.”

Finally, the old man rose from his seat up on the roof and jumped down into the backyard with us. His landing was steady, in defiance of his haggard stature. Meanwhile, I pulled my ward back on her feet.

“We need to get out of here right now. Can't wait until Lester and his goons show up. If they do, I don't think we can get away again,” I whispered.

In response, Sophie awoke from her stupor. In fear of another meeting with the fat terror, she peeked through the open door. Of course, the old lunatic had a different view.

“You believe mere mortals a threat? With your gifts, the commoners of these lands are of no concern to you. Even so, you have brought great distress to my Squalor, far greater than your shackled mind can comprehend. Look down to your god and see what fury you have wrought.”

I looked at him in confusion. I had only ever heard the word 'god' in novels, games and movies. What would I have to do with any gods? Impatient, or maybe out of his mind, the old man walked over and grabbed my phone out of my hand. He seemed to move with all the leisure in the world, but my eyes failed to catch his movements, let alone avoid the grasp of his skeletal hands. Before I could even voice a protest, he had turned on my phone and shoved the old-familiar map into my face.

“This. Do you see the folly of your ways?”

Frozen from shock, I stared at the screen. A circle of red dots had formed around the park. I knew what the red stood for: The guardians of peace. Right above our heads, a drone flew past, far lower than what was usual. All over the map was infected with those red dots. Red everywhere. What were all these guardians doing in the Squalor? The answer shot into my head like lightning.

“A raid?” I tried to deny it, but the idea was lodged in my brain and wouldn't let go. “We can't be this unlucky, right?”

“It is not bad luck, child. It is the retaliation of the oppressors. You are the one who has lured them here, into my Squalor. They have come to take in the lost sheep, the one they failed to catch for slaughter. But now it is time to escape the pen. Time to be free.”

Though the old man rambled, I was still lost. What did any of this mean? Of all people, why would the guardians come for me? I remembered how my scrawny body had propped up the books at Ms. Lector’s house. Then I remembered my punch, the one which had extended far beyond my reach and knocked out someone twice my weight. Down by my feet still lay the backyard door, the hinges ripped apart as if a cab had crashed through.

“The gift,” I murmured.

“Yes, the gift indeed. Now, child, it is time to leave this world and prepare for the next. No facades, no veils. It is time to leave and start a fire to burn away the rot of the world.”

The old man's eyes gleamed. Despite his cryptic nonsense, I knew what he wanted to hear. Even though I knew, I had no reason to give up my life. Nate, my job, I had too many things I was attached to, too many things I couldn't leave behind. Most of all, Amy was still out there, still depended on me. I had to take care of my little sister. There were just two months left until her assessment, until she would bloom and flourish, just like big sis had.

As I peeked at the old man's body, I gauged my chances to take him out and get away. I was tired, but the lunatic was frail, barely skin and bones. I was surprised he could even remain upright, let alone fight back. At the very least, another explosive punch should be enough to create an opening. Then I could explain myself to the guardians in the Squalor. I was still an employee of the city after all, a good citizen.

On the other hand, the man's earlier speed made me suspicious. If he could repeat the feat, starting a fight was more dangerous than anything. There was no reason to provoke a madman, even less since I was responsible for more than just myself.

As the motors in my head began to churn, I looked over to Sophie, her legs shivering and her face even paler than before. In her state, she couldn't run anywhere. Unlike me, she didn't have a work permit either, so I had no idea what the guardians would do with her. I had made a promise to myself: I wouldn't leave my ward alone. Nate wouldn't do it and big sis wouldn't do it either. To my surprise, Sophie spoke before I could make a decision.

“Hey, so this place is being raided, right? And they're after you, according to the creepy old dude. So why do we still stand around like idiots? Do you really think the guards come with good intentions?”

Even if her intentions were good, sarcasm was a horrible way to convince me.

“Of course they do,” I said. “Why wouldn't they? I'm just a caretaker. They probably realized that a member of the city workforce was in trouble. These guys are the reinforcements, sent to get us out of here.”

“You really think a trainee is that important?” When she was about to launch into another rant, Sophie stopped for a second. After a deep sigh, her voice had lost its sharpness. “Look, I have no idea what that gift of yours is supposed to be. I have no idea what you or your crazy friend here are talking about. But if the guardians are here to help, why don't they just call you?”

Dumbfounded, I stared at Sophie. Yes, if they had come to rescue them, wouldn't they at least call to make sure we were okay? To me the guardians had always been a symbol of peace, so I had never even considered them a threat.

“Then why... wouldn't they call me?”

I was scared to ask, but had to. I could feel that I wouldn't be the same after I heard the answer, that my entire life would change. Yet I pushed on, further into the unknown darkness.

“Two possible options,” Sophie said and raised two fingers. “Either their aim isn't you. We just got unlucky. In that case, the chances that a rogue city worker is gonna be left off leniently are minuscule at best. Mine are even worse by the way, if you care about that.”

“I d-”

“The second option,” Sophie ignored my answer and pressed on, “they are here for you, but they don't want you to know they're coming. Now either they're throwing you a surprise birthday party or they're here to cause trouble. Either way, we're screwed. Hey, old man.” While I digested the consequences of Sophie's words, she turned over to the guru, her actions calm to belie our desperate state. “You know how to get out of here, right? That's why you're so calm?”

For the first time since I had met him, the old man focused his eyes on someone other than myself.

“Indeed it is so, young lady. The path to salvation lies ahead, though the child will have to choose for himself.”

First my eyes ran between the two, then above the shacks and into the night. Although my view was blocked, the shouts within the squalor had crescendoed into screams as the guardians had advanced into the former park. At the same time, I heard bangs and could see a red glow from the north and west. Even if the guardians didn't aim for me, there was a good chance we would burn up if we just kept standing around.

Once again, I weighed my chances. Maybe I would still be fine if we made it back to the city's troops, but I knew it would ruin Sophie's future. Whether she wanted or not, the university would never take her back. She would spend the rest of her life indoors, betrayed by her own caretaker.

When my mouth opened for an answer, a red blob of color was caught in the corner of my eye. Beside me I found the red uniforms of the guardians of peace. To spite their name, their equipment was less than peaceful. Each of the two guards held a gun, their sights trained at the one who stood in the backyard's opening: Me.

“Target located. Open Fire.”

In a panic, I raised my hands to show I was no threat, but the guardians still fired. Before I could even begin to fear for my life, the old man had moved between me and my attackers. Although my ears heard the deadly burst of bullets, the lead clanged off the guru's chest, as if they had landed on steel. For his retaliation, the old man only had to stretch out his hand.

As if hit by an invisible train, the two guards flew out of my field of view. Another wave of the guru's hand made the hole in the wall disappear. In its place appeared just more corrugated steel, as if the door had never existed.

My mind was frozen in terror. Why would the council want to kill me? Hadn't I always tried to do good, to do the right thing?

“Brayden!” Sophie's shout freed me from my dread.

“Okay, let's go.” With a heavy voice, I committed my first betrayal against Astralis. The moment was far less dramatic than I had thought it would be. No fanfares, no red sirens, no pangs of guilt. Just those three simple words would change my life forever.

Before I could react, the silent guru had stripped off my vest and work permit.

“Hey, what are you doing!? I need that!” I shouted, as the old man sat on the ground.

“Works of the towering men. Used to surveil, unveil and prevail. With them comes no choice and no life. Without them comes freedom.”

After he placed my phone, vest and permit in his front, he moved his hands around them in fluid motions. As I watched him, my skeptical frown mirrored Sophie's. Trusting the old lunatic might have been a mistake. With her eyes, she motioned me towards the door. With any luck, we could make a quiet exit before the guru became lucid again.

However, I was too busy, entranced by the man's movements, for I could see. Unlike before, when the man's actions had been a complete mystery to me, strange flecks and streams of energy, invisible and yet right there in plain sight, played around the paraphernalia of the caretakers and diffused into them. Somehow, I knew that this was not an illusion. It felt natural, it felt right.

After a few seconds, the vest rose into the air all on its own and ‘stood’ before us, as if filled out by an invisible body. My phone and permit followed suit. Once all three were suspended in the air, the items bolted up in unison and flew away, over the south wall and into the chaos of the Squalor's alleyways. I no longer cared about my caretaker uniform, too entranced by the spectacle before my eyes.

“Hey, just what is going on? Yo, Brayden, you with us?”

Although I could still hear Sophie's voice, my mind only registered her existence once her fingers snapped inches from my eyes. In confusion, I turned to find my ward. Of course I wouldn't know 'what was going on', and yet none of it had surprised me. Before I could be frightened by my own unnatural state, a loud creaking sound from across the yard grabbed our attention.

With a single, skeletal arm, the lunatic had propped open a trap door hidden under the dirt. Both me and Sophie looked at each other in surprise. My mad dash had brought us into a random backyard. How could the stranger know about this place?

Too immersed in his work, the old man was unaware of our disbelief. Once the door was halfway open, a sturdy metal chain kept the gap too tight for a grown human to pass through. With movements like a puppet, the lunatic held his hand against the chain.

With a loud twang, one link proved the weakest and burst apart. One of the chain's ends smacked onto the old man's chest like a whip. As if nothing had happened, he pushed up the trap door to reveal a long ladder down a dark, fetid hole. Not the most inviting place to go, but at this point any place was better than here.

“Quick, come and step into a new world, young child,” the old man repeated his mantra.

I had already been attacked and now even my ID was gone. There wasn't much of a choice. Above our heads, the drones zipped to and fro. There were so many that the chirping had turned into a cacophony.

“I'll go on ahead and see if it's safe,” I said to my ward. “You come down right after me. Don't worry Sophie, I'll make sure to get you back home in one piece.” Even without my badge, I was still her caretaker.

“Right, good luck.”

Maybe she had realized the gravity of the moment or maybe she had been touched by my heroism, but for once, Sophie didn't have a snide comeback to my goodwill. Thus, I made my way over the hole and, with one final look at those piercing eyes of ice, I climbed into the unknown.